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﻿Mountains into Mole hills

Mountains into Mole hills.How does one turn a mountain into a mole hill? I’m sure you have all heard the idiom “making a mountain out of a mole hill”, which means turning a simple issue into a complex one. But how do you make a mountain into a mole hill, which is turning a seemingly complex issue into a simple one. Mountains into Molehills.

I’ll tell you how through a simple story, how i turned a mountain into a molehill.

3 months ago I started running in the mornings. I had decided to get in shape, well actually to get into a different shape. From a circle to more of a V shape. I was never a runner, in fact I hated it. The only reason I decided to run was because my friend Gary lost 6 kilograms in 2 months from running 3km every other morning.

I was inspired by Gary’s story, if I could lose 6 kilograms, I would be a walking talking men’s health cover page. I decided to go for it.Now – Let me set the scene, I stay at the top of a mountain, so for me to go on a run I have to go downhill then come back up hill again. My GPS tells me it’s about a 100 metre climb back to my place; I literally have to climb a mountain to get back home. My first 3km run was one of the most excruciating experiences in my life. My legs, ankles and knees showed their dissatisfaction and mutinied – they left. I literally crawled back up that mountain. It was a hellish experience.

The only reason I went for another run was because Gary from the office, kept asking about my progress – and I was running out of excuses.

So I braced myself for the 2nd run, I made sure my iPod had all the correct theme music, I did all the necessary warm ups and stretches. And I went for it – it was hard but I made it. This time I didn’t call in sick at work. The road didn’t collapse from underneath my feet and most importantly I wouldn’t be avoiding Gary at the water cooler. I did it a few more times, run down the mountain then slowly meander back up. Each time I felt different, and eventually I started to enjoy it. I started to enjoy it so much that I started adding more mileage to my run each day, I enjoyed it so much that I bought a new pair of shoes, I enjoyed it so much that I entered a 10km competition – and got a s liver Medal.

Nowadays I run at least 8km, and that’s because I run out of time before I have to go to work – otherwise I would go a little further.

I’m sure we all have similar experiences – Let me ask you ladies and gentlemen, how many times you have been confronted with an insurmountable challenge. Whether it be, academic, work related, relationships or financial. How many times have you been faced with a challenge that you look back at now and laugh, because what once was a mountain now looks like a mole hill?

Do you remember when you went for your driving test to get your license? How nervous were you? At that moment there was nothing bigger than that test, but today, driving is such a mundane task you would rather relegate it because what once was mountain is now a mole hill. What once was a challenge is now an accomplishment.

Back to the question of how do you turn a Mountain into a mole hill?

There are 3 things that you can do in order to turn your mountain into a mole hill.

Firstly you need to change your perspective. What looks like a mountain today, looking back from tomorrow is a mole hill – which means that today it’s in fact already a Molehill. The challenges you are facing in your life today are actually accomplishments waiting to happen. So change your perspective.

Secondly, you need to break that challenge up into smaller pieces and set Mini Goals. My first goal is getting out of bed on a cold winter morning; my second goal is completing the 1st 3 km, because they are still the hardest and my body doesn’t know why it’s not in bed. Next – is the 6 km mark where the steep incline ends and the road plateaus. After that it’s the home stretch. That’s how I turn that mountain into a molehill.

Thirdly- No matter what -Don’t give up. The first 3km are always the hardest, but if I give up I won’t make it to the mountain top. Difficulties will come, but you need to keep on pushing until you get to mountain top. If I had given up, I would have never received a silver Medal. If I had given up, I would have never turned a mountain into a molehill.

Mountains into Molehills

In order to make mountains into molehills remember the following steps, 1 – change your perception, 2 – break it down to smaller goals and most importantly – never up give up. Because – Life is full of many challenges, but remember that these challenges are the mountains that you need to conquer in order to fulfill your destiny. Mandela is known to have said “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

So the question is Ladies and Gentlemen – what mountains are you going to make into Molehills?

This was my 3rd Competent Communicator speech as part of the Johannesburg Toastmasters club.